Hot Start and Third Set Win Not Enough As Hounds Drop Home Opener

9/20/2019 | Women’s Volleyball | Box Score

PORTALES, N.M. – The Eastern New Mexico volleyball team fell in it’s conference opener to Lubbock Christian on Friday night inside Greyhound Arena by a final score of 3-1 (20-25, 13-25, 25-23, 16-25).

The Hounds rode the energy of their first home crowd of the season to a tightly contested first set of action in Eastern New Mexico’s inaugural effort in the newly expanded Lone Star Conference. That momentum was negated by five straight points by the Lady Chaps to finish off the first set with a 25-20 victory.

The Hounds picked up their lone set win of the night in the third frame in come-from-behind fashion after trailing 17-13 towards the latter portions of the set. The Greyhounds battled back and finally tied the score up at 23-23 in the midst of a run of five straight points for the Hounds to secure the 25-23 win.

Junior Jasmine Gannon hammered down a kill for the 25th point in that third set victory on her way to leading the team with six kills on the night. Senior Sarah Tuioti-Mariner also had a solid night offensively with eight kills in her own right, and joined Gannon with 11 digs.

Lubbock Christian jumped out to a 12-6 lead in the fourth and final set to provide enough cushion to escape Greyhound Arena with their first Lone Star Conference win of the season. The Hounds narrowed the disadvantage down to 17-14, but couldn’t make the plays needed in the latter stages of the set to force a fifth and final set.

The Greyhounds were able to find success throughout the night around the net, totaling 13 blocks as a team including seven blocks assists from junior Julie Tucker. Tucker also led the team with three solo blocks and 11.5 points for the match.

The Hounds posted less attacking errors with 23 compared to the Lady Chap’s 30 and out-blocked the opposition by a final total of 13-to-7, but managed to hit just .079 for the match as a team. Eastern New Mexico totaled just 34 team kills compared to the Lady Chap’s 49.

Eastern New Mexico will have a chance to rebound after the home opening loss tomorrow afternoon against Angelo State. First serve for that match is set for noon.